Elder Princess Shroob
Elder Princess Shroob is the leader of all the Shroobs. She is the twin sister of Princess Shroob (though also said to be her older sister). She is bigger and uglier than her sister, and is one of Mario's most powerful and evil enemies. She is the final boss of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, not counting Shrowser (whose battle is more of a minigame and is much easier). Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Elder Princess Shroob and her younger sister, Princess Shroob, attacked Princess Peach when she arrived from the present in her time machine during their takeover of her castle in the past. Peach trapped Elder Princess Shroob inside the Cobalt Star and shattered it into six pieces, before being captured by Princess Shroob. To release Elder Princess Shroob, the Cobalt Star would have to be put back together. Elder Princess Shroob posed as the Cobalt Star Sprite to trick Mario, Luigi, and their baby counterparts into putting the Cobalt Star back together. While inside the two pieces of the Cobalt Star that Baby Bowser stole, she attacked him and sent him flying into the distance, which led the heroes to believe that there was a very good and powerful spirit inside the Cobalt Star. While at Star Hill, Elder Princess Shroob took the form of the Cobalt Star Sprite, resembling the Star Spirit Misstar, inside the still-incomplete Cobalt Star, telling the Mario Bros. that Princess Shroob broke the Cobalt Star and that to defeat the Shroobs, they must collect all the Cobalt Shards. Baby Luigi started to cry, sensing an evil power emanating from the Cobalt Star that no one else could. When the Cobalt Star was put back together by Baby Bowser, Elder Princess Shroob was released, turning Baby Bowser into a mushroom and destroying the Cobalt Star. By this time, Princess Shroob had been defeated by the Mario Bros., and Elder Princess Shroob fought them on a UFO to avenge her death. During the battle, she showed how little she cared for the rest of her people, killing Shroobs when they brought her a drink to restore her HP. Midway through the battle she transformed into an even more hideous beast with tentacles, but was finally defeated and turned into a mushroom. Baby Luigi took her, and they returned to the present with her. After the rest of the Shroobs were destroyed by the baby tears, and their victims restored, Toadsworth and Toadsworth the Younger led the Mario Bros. to the unconscious Bowser in the castle. While Baby Mario tried to wake him up, Elder Princess Shroob, still a mushroom, went over to Bowser of her own accord and entered his mouth to make him eat her. This transformed Bowser into Shrowser, giving him power with Elder Princess Shroob's spirit above his head. The Mario Bros. fought him and defeated him by dodging and deflecting all his fireballs so they hit Elder Princess Shroob, completely destroying her while returning Bowser to normal. Battle In her first form, Elder Princess Shroob has 3500 HP. She attacks by charging at the Mario Bros. If her mouth is open with a grimace, she will stop for a split second before hitting her enemy. The baby Mario Bros. have to hammer her twice when she does this. She also summons Shroob UFOs. Individually they can bring her a drink to heal 120 HP (and she will smash and kill the UFO once she finishes drinking). If there are two, she will stand on them and shoot energy waves. If she is lower to the ground, they must be jumped over, otherwise, they will miss the Mario Bros. She can also have a Shroob UFO summon a Chomp to go around in circles and attack the Mario Bros. Jumping on the Chomp will destroy it. If there are three UFOs at a time, they can give Elder Princess Shroob a bomb, and she will walk over to the Mario Bros. in an attempt to throw the bomb and blow them up. Whoever she is in front of must hit her repeatedly with the hammer to make her stop (doing a fair bit of damage to her in the process). When she summons UFOs, Peach will give the Mario Bros. a star to shoot and destroy the UFOs. If they are low enough on health, she will heal them with a mushroom. After her first form is defeated, she will transform. This form has four tentacles for arms and several tentacles for legs, and is altogether more monstrous. Despite this, she has less HP than her first form, at 3000 (though this can be argued that altogether she has about 6500 HP, separated into her two forms). Her arm tentacles attack by stabbing. The player must jump the instant the spikes flash, as she is about to stab. They can also stretch to grab the Mario Bros. and throw them. This is similar to Cackletta's attack and can be countered with a hammer (but to no damage). Her leg tentacles attack by spinning around to trip the Mario Bros. (similar to Cackletta's arms). They never change altitude, but if she has a lot of damage she will use three tentacles instead of two, which makes it equally hard. She also has them spit out poison clouds that must be jumped over. She can also create an energy orb and shoot red and green orbs into it. If she shoots more red orbs than green orbs, she will attack Mario, and vice versa for Luigi. This must be hit with the hammer, but when it is hit it will go to the other brother, who must hit it (eerily similar to both Cackletta's giant energy ball attack and her small energy ball attack with her left hand). This is tricky if there are a similar amount of orbs. She also attacks by summoning Shroob UFOs, which she will shoot with an energy ball, either setting them on fire or electrocuting them. In a reference to their magic attacks in Superstar Saga, the flaming ones go for Mario and the electrified ones go for Luigi, and in the order that they were hit in. Her rarest attack is to create a Time Hole, and use the UFO attack so that they fall into the time hole, and next turn, they will reappear and attack in the order that they are hit in. Whenever she uses either variation of the UFO attack, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi must hit them back with their hammers, and they will damage her. Elder Princess Shroob is mostly impervious to damage, receiving one damage from each attack. To damage her, the Mario Bros. must first destroy her leg tentacles, which will regenerate in three turns. Her arm tentacles don't need to be destroyed, and are overall easier to avoid than some of her other attacks, if the player is paying attention. When her leg tentacles are destroyed, the Mario Bros. can then attack her crown. When it is deactivated, she will be vulnerable, and receive regular damage. Her crown also reactivates in three turns, but when her leg tentacles are out, yet her crown still deactivated, the Mix Flower attack can be very effective in damaging both her legs and her directly. The UFOs hit back at her will be more effective if they hit her while she is vulnerable. Like Cackletta, perhaps her hardest attack to avoid is her latest variation of the spin attack, with the three tentacles, which can be tricky to jump over. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story Strangely, Elder Princess Shroob appeared frozen in the background of the optional Shroob battle, along with other common Shroobs and duplicate Junior Shrooboids and Commander Shroobs. It is unknown how she possibly could have survived and returned to her physical form, however, Nintendo has never stated her survival and chooses to leave this a mystery and let people make up their minds, many of which say she traveled into the present before fighting Mario (and was thawed by Princess Shroob before returning to the past and attacking Peach's Castle, as her sister is absent from the frozen Shroobs), or that they built a sculpture of her. Yet also, it is important to note that she only appears in the background of the battle, in which the room is much bigger than it is outside of the battle, so Elder Princess Shroob and the frozen Shroobs may simply be decoration for the battle's background only. The only frozen Shroob to appear outside the battle, aside from the three the Mario Bros. fight, is Junior Shrooboid, who was never killed in the previous game. Personality and characteristics Elder Princess Shroob is extremely cruel and ruthless. She is also very powerful, as Peach and Toadbert were both afraid of the idea of her being released from her imprisonment. Aside from her sister, whom she views as beautiful and whose death she wanted to avenge, she cares very little for her people, destroying Shroob UFOs and killing their drivers whenever they bring her a drink to help her heal during the battle, and also attacking them with an energy ball to set them on fire or shortcircuit them during the second phase, causing them to crash and explode, whether they hit the Mario Bros. or were hit back at her. She is perhaps one of Mario's most evil enemies next to Dimentio, and most powerful enemies next to Smithy. Elder Princess Shroob is presumably the only Shroob who can speak in English. Trivia *Like Gloomtail, one of her reasons for fighting Mario is to avenge her younger sister's death. *Like Dark Bowser, she is directly destroyed by Bowser and indirectly by the Mario Bros., although in this case Bowser is not aware of her existence, and is trying to hit the Mario Bros. and deflect the fireballs aiming for him once reflected at him. Ironic, as she attacks Baby Bowser twice while inside the Cobalt Star. *In the game, when the player attacks her, her name is listed as "Princess Shroob" like her sister. The strategy magazine, many walkthroughs, and a brief mention by Princess Peach refer to her as Elder Princess Shroob, as a way of distinguishing the two. Category:Final bosses Category:Bosses Category:Princesses Category:Villains Category:Shroobs Category:Partners in Time bosses Category:Partners in Time characters Category:Aliens Category:Main antagonists Category:Teamkillers Category:Deceased